FF7: The Young Generation
by Killer K
Summary: The first fanfic in a long series that cronicles the exploits of a teenage Marlene, as she fights to save Cloud's life!
1. Default Chapter

FFVII: The Young Generation  
  
Book 1  
  
Prologue  
  
She stood in the middle of the field, facing her opponent, her mentor. His tall slim figure gave him a young gung-ho look, despite his age, and she knew that in those years, his fighting skill hadn't floundered one bit.  
  
She fidgeted, brushing her hair away from her face, only to have it take refuge there once again when the wind blew. Her tank top and jeans clung to her tightly as if they were sopping wet. Her trainers seemed to shrink, and her headband somehow seemed to be getting tighter.  
  
She continued to stand, facing him, waiting for him to say something. The wind howled, as if to emphasise the impatience she was feeling.  
  
Finally, he spoke. "I have been training you for 10 years, and you have almost done nothing that pleases me. You're never on time, and you insist on only staying for half our lessons". He shook his head. "I don't know what your father would say if he knew that you had turned out like this."  
  
"He probably would have been proud of me!" she retorted back. He's testing me she thought. Testing me to see how I react.  
  
He nodded, slowly. "Can you prove to me that he could be proud of you?"  
  
"Yes," she replied. "By defeating you!"  
  
He rolled his eyes, and sighed. "You always were so impatient, like someone I used to know." He seemed to think for a minute. "You know that you could get hurt..."  
  
"You're probably more likely to get hurt than me!"  
  
His eyes narrowed. "Draw your weapon" he commanded, drawing his heavy sword from behind his back as he said so.  
  
She drew a small cylinder from her belt, and pressed the small button located where her thumb was. With a clunk, the cylinder expanded outwards at both ends, forming her fighting staff that she had made herself. It was about her height, large enough that she could match his sword easily, light enough so she could move faster.  
  
They stood facing each other for a few moments, and then she snapped, and charged towards him, staff twirling over her head, ready to strike. Her instructor swung his sword at her. They met in a shower of sparks. Already, she swung her pole around at his head, but he got his sword up to block quicker than expected. He immediately went on the offensive, using the superior power of his sword to push her backwards.  
  
I almost forgot that he handles that huge sword like someone handles a dagger. She ducked a slicing swing that could have decapitated her head for her shoulders. And the weight of the sword means he has the greater power...she dived out of the way from a downward swing. How can I beat him?  
  
Her instructor brought another swing to bare, which she parried. For a moment, they strained against one another, testing each other's strength, until her instructor rammed his boot hard into her stomach. She gasped as all the air escaped from her lungs, forcing her to take a step backward. He made a sideways cut, which she barely managed to leap over. However, her mid air position left her vulnerable. Without stopping his swing, he directed his blade upwards, turning as he did so to gain more momentum. His blade slammed into her staff as she made a hasty block, sending it flying up into the air. The force of the impact sent her reeling backwards, and she didn't have time to do anything to lessen the impact of her landing.  
  
For a moment, she stared up at the sky, breathing heavily, and she tasted blood on her lip. The sun shone down heavily on her sapping her last reserve of strength, and now her mentor was standing over her, sword to her throat. And she knew she had lost the duel.  
  
Cloud permitted himself a small smile has he looked down at her. "The day you beat me Marlene, is the day you graduate..."  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Cloud's house was big enough to have supported a family of six, and for a time, it was a temporary home to many of the Avalanche members. However, as time dragged on, many of them went off to fulfil other commitments, and the number of people on the house was downsized. Now, only two people lived in the house, herself and Cloud.  
  
She hated this house. The main problem with Costa La Sole was that it was too quiet. There was absolutely nothing to do! She hated the quiet atmosphere, the peaceful sea, the lack of any decent shops. Even if she wanted to go to the Gold Saucer, she would have to walk all the way there, travel through New Coral and then pay a ridiculous price to get in, all for a few high tech rides which would satisfy her amusement for a few hours! In Marlene's opinion, it wasn't worth the hassle. She was 15 and she had to find something to do!  
  
So she spent the day at home, watching TV, while Cloud was out somewhere. She couldn't care less where he went off too, as living in the same house with him was hell! Every time she would even attempt to listen to her favourite group on CD, he would always come in and ask her to turn it down a bit! In the end, she would have to turn it down so much that she couldn't hear a thing.   
  
Even though she and Cloud lived together, the relationship was strictly student to instructor. They hardly saw each other, and Cloud seemed to be in his room for most of the day. The only ever time they seemed to speak with each other was when they were training together, and even then, they didn't get past the insult stage.  
  
She eventually got bored watching the news report of how Wutai was gaining power and increasing it's armed forces, and went into her room, making sure that the 'Do Not Disturb' skull shaped sign was up. She sat at her desk, and rummaged through her draws until she found the photo she was looking for.  
  
She gazed at it, and all of a sudden, she felt tears coming into her eyes. Have I really failed him? she thought. Would he have been proud of me? For a moment, she stared again at the photo of her father, and then shoved it back into the drawer. No, he was just rattling me.  
  
Cloud came back, and had immediately gone straight to his room. For a second, he looked at the double bed, and the side that would always be empty. He looked at the belongings and clothes that he hadn't had the heart to throw away. And he looked at her photo, and felt his emotions rising up. Gazing at the photo, at her smiling face, he felt one tear running down his face, and he heard himself whisper...  
  
"I miss you..."   
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

It was early the next morning that she found the note left to her by Cloud  
  
Marlene  
I've gone to the doctor's. Will be back later today.  
Training is at 3:00p.m in the usual place  
Breakfast is in the Fridge  
Cloud  
P.S. Do NOT attempt to use the pressure cooker!  
  
Strange she thought. Usually he only leaves me a note to tell me when and where our next training session is. She shrugged and headed into the kitchen. Her eyes fell upon the new pressure cooker that Cloud had recently installed, and she toiled with the prospect of using it. However, one look at all the knobs and dials put her off, and instead, she decided to check the fridge.  
  
When she opened the fridge door, all she found in there (apart from an assortment of vegetables and cheeses she couldn't care less for), were some pancakes.  
  
He knows that I hate pancakes! She took them out of the fridge and chucked them in the bin. Guess I'll have to get my own breakfast...again... She made her way into Cloud's room. Looks like I'll just have to sell something of Cloud's to make some money...  
  
Despite giving most of his materia away to Yuffie after the Meteor Incident, he still kept a substantial backup supply for emergencies. Marlene not only knew this, but she also knew where he kept it hidden.   
  
Slowly, she moved the wardrobe off to one side, revealing a state-of-the-art safe, which was impenetrable to all physical damage. If Meteor had hit this house, the safe would still be intact. However, Marlene knew that the safes had a fatal flaw. They could be easily hacked to figure out the correct combination.  
  
From her belt, she removed her pocket computer. Cloud had given it to her, long ago when she was little, and it was original purpose was it's use as a personal organiser. However, with a small amount of cash, and help from a few of her friends, she was able to modify it so it could access computer system. However, when the new government developed a counter-measure against it, it looked like she would never be able to use it again. However, Cloud's safe was an old model, and it probably hadn't been opened in years until Marlene had found it. And so, now and again, Marlene would break into the safe and take a relatively unimportant piece of materia.   
  
One of the main problems with this machine she thought as she connected the access wires from the computer into the data port, is that when the user installs it, he can set as many rotating pass-codes as he likes, as long as he remembers which code corresponds to which month. She started hacking into the code, unveiling it number by number. This was the month of June, and she hadn't acquired a code to hack into it yet.   
  
Her computer beeped after several seconds, confirming that the code had been hacked. She entered the code into the safe's keypad as she had done many times previously. As she entered the final digit, the safe slowly grinded open.  
  
Okay, which one this time? She didn't want to take anything major, just something that would buy her a good breakfast. She briefly contemplated taking a red summon materia, but she decided against. There's too few of them, and they would be noticed easily.   
  
Eventually, she decided to grab a low-level lightning. As she reached in to grab it, the photo of that woman once again caught her eye. Ignoring it as she always did, she took the materia out of the safe and turned away...  
  
Only to find Cloud standing in the doorway, his face unreadable. For a moment, the air between them was tense. Marlene felt herself backing away from him. Cloud continued to stand, watching her closely.  
  
She forced herself to speak. "Um...I didn't know you would be back this early..." Cloud didn't respond. She held her breath, wondering what he would do to her. Finally, he spoke.  
  
"Take three of the green materia and meet me in the usual place.  



	4. Chapter 4

She stood in the middle of the field, facing her opponent, her mentor. His tall slim figure gave him a young gung-ho look, despite his age, and she knew that in those years, his fighting skill hadn't floundered one bit.  
  
She fidgeted, brushing her hair away from her face, only to have it take refuge there once again when the wind blew. Her tank top and jeans clung to her tightly as if they were sopping wet. Her trainers seemed to shrink, and her headband somehow seemed to be getting tighter.  
  
She continued to stand, facing him, waiting for him to say something. The wind howled, as if to emphasise the impatience she was feeling.  
  
Finally, he spoke. "Do you actually know what materia is?"   
  
"It allows you to use magic, and increase the chances of winning a battle."  
  
He sighed. "So you think that using materia will make you a stronger fighter?"  
  
"I know it will!" She studied her weapon. One of the advantages of her fighting pole was that she had intentionally given it plenty of materia slots, so one could place materia on it from one end to the other. However, this was perhaps the third time she had ever actually used materia, and so she hadn't had the chance to equip her weapon to the max.  
  
She looked across at Cloud. Cloud hadn't got any materia attached to his sword at all, and this is what was worrying her. How can he expect to win without any materia? Is he going to teach me that I don't need materia? She smiled to herself. He's talking complete nonsense. He couldn't have defeated Meteor without using magic!  
  
For a minute, Cloud seemed to grimace, but when she looked again, his face had once again become a mask, completely unreadable. He tightened his grip around his sword.  
  
"Then hit me...if you can."  
  
The second the sentence was out of his mouth, Marlene concentrated, focusing on the lightning materia she had attached.  
  
"BOLT 3!!!"  
  
The sky above Cloud's head suddenly darkened. Thunder roared in the distance, followed by an absolutely massive lightning bolt, which struck the ground where Cloud had been standing only a second before. Now, he was flying through the air towards Marlene. Quickly, she concentrated on the second materia she had attached.  
  
"FIRE 3!!!"  
  
Cloud was engulfed with flames almost immediately. The flames expanded outwards, creating a massive wall of flame in front of Marlene. I've done it! She thought. I've beaten him...  
  
Suddenly, the figure of Cloud jumped out of the flames, and struck at Marlene. She barely managed to block in time. Despite being engulfed in flames, Cloud was only mildly burnt, and this is what Marlene found hard to believe.   
  
"You aren't very experienced with materia," Cloud said. "That fire attack was very weak." He smiled at her, mockingly. "Materia isn't any good unless you learn how to use to properly."  
  
He swung his sword at her again. She blocked, but Cloud had feinted his swing, and had switched to a downward slice. She didn't have time to jump out of the way, and the only choice she had was to block. The sword met the pole dead centre, becoming embedded in it. They strained against each, Cloud slowly moving his sword closer to Marlene's face.  
  
Suddenly, he stopped pushing for a fraction of a second, and in that fraction, Marlene pushed upward with all he might, pushing the sword away from her off to one side, and shoving one end of the pole into Cloud's stomach. He gasped in pain as the breath was knocked out of him. She thrust her pole upwards, hoping to catch his chin, but he had dodged out of the way.  
  
Immediately he was back on the offensive, launching a flurry of attacks against her, which she struggled to block. He sliced left, right, diagonally, he even lunged at her, moves that could have killed he if she hadn't have been able to block, even if Cloud wanted to stop them mid-swing.  
  
Even in a duel such as this, Cloud would do the best he can to avoid killing me. Of course, injuring me is another matter...Suddenly, she saw it when he attempted a downward swing. His moves are clumsy, he's not giving the fight his full concentration. She sidestepped the swing. Better not worry why, I'd better just defeat him.  
  
She flung herself at him, her pole movements becoming a blur Cloud seemed to block them with no effort at all, but she continued her attack, building up speed and momentum. Left, Right, Down, Up...  
  
Suddenly, he seemed to lose concentration, his sword arm slowing down by a fraction of a second, and this is what Marlene took advantage of. She leapt forward before the sword could connect with her pole, and rammed her pole into his face. This had a massive effect, and Cloud cried out it pain, his sword going wild. She followed with a flurry of jabs to the midsection, driving him backward. Finally, she held her pole high up above her head and smashed it down on Cloud's skull. The pole vibrated in her hand as it connected, and Cloud collapsed to the ground.  
  
She walked over to him, and placed on end of the pole to his neck. He was breathing heavily, his nose had probably been broken, and he had lost a couple of teeth. He opened her eyes, saw her standing over him, and sighed.  
  
"Well done," he grunted. He pushed the pole away from him and shakily got to his feet, turning his head to one side to spit out blood as he did so.  
  
"You're father would have been proud," he continued. His face was a look of disbelief and surprise. "Beating me, something he could never do!"  
  
"You let me win!" she yelled at him.  
  
"Not intentionally," he replied. "I made a mistake and..." He stopped, his face becoming a grimace. He clasped his forehead in his hands.  
  
"Are you OK?" she leered. "Come on, I didn't hit you that hard!"  
  
"It wasn't you..." he grunted. "I've just been having some really bad headaches for the past couple of days...ugh..." He clenched his teeth. "And they seem to be getting...worse..."  
  
Suddenly, his body went limp, and he keeled over in the grass...  



	5. Chapter 5

"So, what is wrong with him?"  
  
The doctor sitting on the other side of the desk sighed, as if he was about to explain the meaning of sex to a five year old. Marlene knew that expression all to well when Cloud told her what happened to her father. First it was the "He's gone away for a while" explanation, followed by a reassurance that he still loved her. She only managed to find out the truth when she was eleven years old...  
  
"Well," he began, fidgeting in his seat. "Well...Marlene, do you know what DNA is..."  
  
"Of course I do!" she snapped. "I don't want a Biology lesson!" She took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself down. This was the kind of Doctor that would give be a 'wollypop' during a check-up. "What is wrong with him?"  
  
He paused before continuing. "His DNA structure is starting to...break down" he said, choosing his words carefully. "We don't know why, or how, we just know that at this rate, he will be dead within a week." He watched Marlene for a reaction. "I'm sorry..."  
  
Marlene didn't display any visible reaction for a second, until one tear rolled down her cheek. Cloud has taken care of me since I was five. If he dies, I'll be all alone...The emotional impact of that single thought brought even more tears to her eyes.  
  
The doctor produced a handkerchief for her which she accepted gratefully. "Is there anything you can do?" she asked, drying her eyes, while at the same time, cursing herself for crying.  
  
"No," he confessed. "In recent years, we have acquired technology which allows us to see a single DNA strand. However, we don't have the technology to alter it..." He seemed to think for a moment. "Was Cloud displaying any symptoms before he collapsed.  
  
"He said he had been suffering from headaches and I noticed that one of his arms seemed to go stiff when I was fighting him..."  
  
"Makes sense. Those symptoms were as a result of some of his DNA breaking down. That and the heart attack that he suffered..."  
  
Marlene was lost in thought. There's no reason why his DNA would suddenly start to break down. There must be a reason why..."Has this happened before?"  
  
"We don't have anything in our medical records..."  
  
"Nothing at all?"  
  
"Well, some bodies were recovered from the Northern Crater 6 years ago. Records show that they died because their DNA structure broke down."  
  
Bodies? "How many?"  
  
"About eleven bodies where recovered, all had died from the same cause."  
  
"Do you know when they died?"  
  
He checked his computer. "About eleven years ago, just before the Meteor incident in the year D.S. 64." (During Shinra).  
  
She absorbed all this information quietly. If the doctors can't do anything about it, then I guess it's up to me to do something.  
  
And so she wished the doctor well, and decided to head back home.  
  
Trouble is, I don't know where the hell to start...  
  



	6. Chapter 6

As soon as she got back home, she got straight to work. In Cloud's room, she dug out his journals (consisting of 6 huge hardback books). She then went to the local library, and borrowed a book about the late Shinra period, in particular, focusing on the Meteor incident. Then, after fixing up a few bowls of snacks and plenty of drinks, she sat on the sofa in front of the TV, turned it on (keeping the volume down low) and stared at the huge collection of books before her. Okay, now what?  
  
Reading would probably be the best solution, and her history was a little rusty, so she started with the book focusing on the Meteor incident. Of course, she found lots of stuff on Cloud and Sephiroth, and the fact that Cloud was a clone, and lots of pictures of Midgar, the Highwind, Avalanche and so on. Of course, she was a little bit surprised that there was practically no mention of her in the book. I was part of Avalanche, and I may have only been 4 years old, but I should get some credit!  
  
Disgusted, she put the book down. So, Cloud was a clone of Sephiroth, however, he was classified as a failed experiment, so he wasn't given a number. Apparently, the other clones went mad and died on the Northern Crater, from the breakdown of their DNA...She thought for a second. But Cloud isn't the only one of Hojo's experiments that is still alive...  
  
To continue, she needed access to the WWN (World Wide Network). The WWN was a huge source of information, which had originally been used by Shinra to allow the main headquarters of the company to send data to it's stations all over the world. After Shinra collapsed, someone had the idea of expanding it, and so the WWN was born. To access it, all a person needed was a computer, and was within range of the satellite signal, which is what Marlene's computer could do.  
  
After an agonizing wait for the computer to tune into the WWN, and a good few minutes of frustrated searching, she finally found a suitable page on genetic experiments. There, she found out about some of Hojo's other experiments. Two names stood out among them, Vincent Valentine and Nanaki (experiment codename: Red XIII).  
  
Intrigued, she investigated them further. Vincent had disappeared shortly after the Meteor incident, and he hadn't been seen since. Nanaki currently resided in Cosmo Canyon.  
  
Through more searching, she found out more info. There was a secret laboratory in the basement of the Shinra mansion in Nibelheim. However, the building burnt to the ground under mysterious circumstances five years ago. Another option was Hojo's lab in the ruins of Midgar, which (according to the information she had), was still standing.  
  
She now had two leads. I could go straight to Midgar, but I really need a guide as I don't really know my way around, or I could go and see some creature that is probably displaying the same symptoms as Cloud is, and would probably be a waste of time to visit...  
  
She was stuck. She didn't have a guide, and she currently had no way to get to Midgar, as no ships would be sailing for a week due to it being a national holiday for the sailors. Why did they have to have their stupid holiday now?  
  
Still, even if she had to commander a boat, she would get there. She packed as quickly as she could, taking some of Cloud's money, some of his materia and a few supplies. She stood in front of her wardrobe, wondering if she should take a spare set of clothes with her.  
  
"Going somewhere?" She turned to see Cloud standing in the doorway, dressed in a hospital gown. He looked quite sick. He looked as if he was in constant pain, and he looked very pale.  
  
"You should be in bed!" the words blurted out of her mouth. "You should be in hospital! You shouldn't be here..."  
  
"Do you really think that I could let you go on some fool hardy expedition on your own?"  
  
"I'll manage," she said, recovering from the momentary shock. "Besides, if you come with me, you'll slow me down and worsen your condition."  
  
"Just because I'm at death's door doesn't mean I'm going to walk through it willingly!" He winced for a second, put then he seemed to gain a boost in his determination. "And besides, I can't let some little girl try to save my life when her own life is more important!" He turned away from her, and walked towards his room. "Now get your stuff together and be ready to leave in thirty minutes."  
  
"Where are we going?"  
  
"Cosmo Canyon"  
  
"How are we going to get there?"  
  
Cloud grinned at her. "Wait and see..."  



	7. Chapter 7

After the Meteor incident, Cid Highwind had decided to try and become the first man on the moon, which in many ways, was bigger than his original dream to go into space. And so, during the next 5 or so years, he constructed a rocket, which (while similar in design to the last one), had a landing craft attached, which he had planned to use to land on the moon, and then blast off and return safely back to the ship before re-entering earth's atmosphere.  
  
The publicity was staggering. While Cid's first launch had mostly gone un-noticed, this time around, people flocked to the launch site in their thousands. Even the old Avalanche gang, consisting of Cloud, Marlene, Yuffie and Nanaki had shown up to wish him luck.  
  
The landing was the most televised attempt in all history, however, something went wrong...  
  
Begin Recording  
Dateline: 16:21 5th Dominiquer, A.S. 4  
Lander status: All systems nominal  
  
Cid: Hello. Testing 1...2...3...Right, MC, ready to begin final decent.  
MC: Roger Cid. The chick is ready to separate from the nest.  
Shera: Confirmed  
Cid: Right, starting down now...  
  
t-minus 2 minutes to landing  
  
MC: Cid...you're off centre by 0.9 degrees, fire the retro rockets.  
Cid: Roger MC.  
MC: Latitude stable. You're looking good.  
Cid: Cloud, you there?  
Cloud: We're all here  
Marlene: Is he really going to land on the moon?  
Yuffie: Hey old man! How you doing up there?  
Cid: I'm doing great knowing that I'm far away from you...  
MC: You're at 100 feet, looking good.  
Cid: Wait a sec...is something moving down there?  
MC: 50 feet. Burn!  
Cid: Firing rocket.  
MC: 30 feet...20...10...5...3....2...1...Touchdown! (Control erupts with cheers).  
Cid: Right, let's have a look around. All readouts on the suit are green. Guess it's ok to go outside...oh shit...engine 4 is damaged...so is engine 3...now engine 2...oh god, something outside is tearing at the engines...  
MC: Cid, what's going on up there!  
Cid: I'm aborting the mission. I'm lifting off static interferes with the transmission Engine 1 is gone...clunk something is trying to force it's way in...clunk...come on lady luck, don't let me down now...  
  
Recording ends  
  
After the landing, it was assumed by everyone that Cid was dead. A robotic probe was sent to the moon shortly after, but soon after it landed, all contact was lost.   
  
In Cid's will, he was particularly stingy with his property, and he seemed to leave everything to Shera. However, he did leave one thing in Avalanche's name, the Highwind II...  
  
"So he just left it to you, just like that!" She was still trying to take in the grandness of the whole thing. Gazing around the cockpit, she took note of as many control consoles as she could see. "Are you seriously going to fly this thing!"  
  
"No, but you are."  
  
"What...are you mad?!"  
  
"It's actually quite straightforward," she said, beckoning her to join he at the helm. "This station controls the Highwind's flight. The lever at the far left controls the altitude, the one on the right is the throttle. The yoke in the centre controls the airships yaw..." He went on to explain how to land, what to pull in case of and emergency and also how to send radio messages.  
  
"But why do I have to fly it?"  
  
"In my current state, one heart attack, or even one massive headache and we'll end up crashing into the sea. Which reminds me..." he reached underneath the console, and pulled out a first aid kit. Opening it, he took out some aspirin, which he pocketed, and pulled out a de-fibrillator. "If the worst does come to the worse, use this." He made some minor adjustments to it. "Adjust the voltage here..."  
  
"And what am I supposed to do with it!"  
  
"Just do what they always do on hospital programmes. And throw in a bit of the 'Please don't dies' for good measure."  
  
How can he be making sick jokes at a time like this? "OK, so we're going to Cosmo Canyon, right."  
  
"Right," Cloud winced, and he fumbled with the aspirin bottle.  
  
"Well, which way do I go?"  
  
He swallowed a couple of capsules. "Use a map!"  
  



	8. Chapter 8

The flight to Cosmo Canyon was, one the whole, uneventful. Marlene flew the ship very fast at a very low altitude, despite Cloud suggesting that perhaps they should slow down a bit and that they should be travelling higher than 1 metre over the tops of the trees.  
  
They set down at Cosmo Canyon early in the evening, landing on slightly uneven terrain, but Cid had obviously counteracted this flaw, and with a flick of a switch, Marlene extended the landing struts with attached themselves to the ground. In effect, the Highwind didn't actually land, instead it hovered about half a metre above the ground.  
  
"So now we just leave it?"  
  
"When it goes into landing mode, a computer takes over, which keeps the airship's altitude constant. It can be activated in flight, but the instant the pilot touches the altitude controls, that command is overridden.  
  
When they approached the village, it was immediately apparent that something was up. "So we came all this way to see a ghost town!" She was right, the whole place seemed to be deserted.  
  
"Let's take a look around," Cloud said, drawing his weapon. Marlene drew her pole, wondering if she would actually need to use it. They decided to try the upper entrance. There, they waited for a second, Marlene's heart beating fast. Cautiously, she reached for the door handle, and pulled.   
  
The second the door opened, there was a blur of red as something leapt at her. She went flying backwards as the thing collided with, sending them both tumbling down the set the stairs. The thing appeared to be trying to maul her, and she was using all her strength just to try and strangle the thing with her bare hands.  
  
They landed at the bottom, the thing on top of Marlene. Slowly, she tightened her grip as she felt the resistance lessen. I'm winning...She looked straight at the creature's face, the face that was also looking straight at her...  
  
"Marlene! Nanaki! Stop!"  
  
Nanaki...Slowly, she lessened her grip, but she kept her hands firmly around his throat. The creature began to breathe again, looking her straight in the eye. "Mar...Mar...Marlene?" it choked out.  
  
Immediately, she released her grip. "Nanaki?" she whispered. Nanaki leapt off her, allowing her to sit up. She looked at him Nanaki looked about the same as always, except that he seemed to be breathing heavily, and was having trouble standing up. "Are...are you alright?"  
  
"It's good to see that you have become so strong Marlene," he said. "But what are you doing here?"  
  
"Haven't you been feeling ill lately?" Cloud asked.  
  
"Well, I have been having some bad headaches and my limbs seem to freeze up now and again. I can only assume that I'm becoming an adult!" He chuckled to himself. "Why do you ask?"  
  
And Cloud and Marlene told him everything they knew. Hojo's experiments, the bodies in the Northern Crater, and Cloud's breakdown of his DNA. Nanaki digested this information quietly. He shook his head. "Hojo..."  
  
"Sorry to butt in," Marlene said. "But why are you still here? This place is a ghost town?"  
  
"Everyone left about a year ago when a small group of Ninja's attacked the town. They had probably thought the town was abandoned, and where probably going the scavenge what they could." He sighed. "However, the attack scared the population into leaving, even though I fought them off no problem."  
  
"You didn't answer my question..."  
  
"I'm getting to that." He wagged his tail in frustration. "I am the guardian of this town. My family has guarded this town for generations, and I will continue to guard it, until the inhabitants return."  
  
"Nanaki," Cloud interrupted. "They may not return, besides, mankind has moved on. Everyone wants something to do with technology these days. The children who grew up here probably saw what technology could do, and they left to join the modern world."  
  
Nanaki tried to speak, but the first word seemed to get stuck in his mouth. "But..."  
  
Marlene interrupted. "Look, we can discuss the advantages and disadvantages of technology later. Right now we need to find a cure for both of you..."  
  
"She's right," Cloud said, wincing suddenly.  
  
"Where did you say where were headed?" Nanaki asked.  
  
"Well, the obvious place to go would be Hojo's laboratory in Midgar. However, I don't know my way around the ruins very well..."  
  
"Well, who does?" Marlene began to get impatient.  
  
"We need someone who had relations with Shinra, and who knew their way around the old Midgar pretty well..." He racked his brain for a minute. "If Reeve was still alive, we could have asked him...but there is a group of people we could ask..."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"The Turks..."  
  



	9. Chapter 9

After the Meteor incident, the remaining Turks became 'Mercenaries for Hire'. After a successful few years in business, all three of them retired to some distant corners of the world, and were never seen or heard of again, which is what made Marlene's search much more difficult, as there was plenty of data available on the Turks during the Meteor incident, but there was almost nothing on them after they went their separate ways. So, she was forced to search through a sizeable portion of the WWN before she even managed to locate one of them.  
  
"I've found one of your little friends," she said finally, tossing the computer over to Cloud. "Apparently, he went to live in the Wutai area. He supposedly has a little cottage by the sea at the south of the island..."  
  
"Yes, Marlene, I can read!" Cloud snapped. Marlene drew back. As Cloud's condition worsened, he seemed to be getting more irritable. Probably because he's in almost constant pain and he hasn't got had any sleep. Nanaki however, was keeping the pain under control. He only spoke when someone spoke to him. Probably so he can keep the pain and his temper under control.  
  
"Great!" Cloud chucked the computer back at Marlene, which she barely managed to catch. "It's a seven hour journey to the Wutai island, then it's a fifteen hour journey to Midgar, which leaves me and Nanaki here about twelve hours to find a cure and administer it. If one even exists!" He kicked the helm.   
  
Nanaki and Marlene looked at each other. Nanaki spoke up first. "Cloud, maybe you should rest..."  
  
"I'm perfectly fine!" Cloud rounded on him. He tried to make a movement with his right hand to point at himself, but he ended up having to use his left. "I...am not going to give up...even if you are prepared to accept death!  
  
"Death..." Marlene said, quietly. "Is something that will come a whole lot quicker if you over exert yourself." There was silence for a minute, and the only thing they could here for a moment was Cloud's heavy breathing.  
  
"Fine!" He turned on one heel, and hobbled back to his cabin. Marlene glanced at Nanaki, but looked away quickly when he seemed to grimace. Better not bother him. She pulled out the map and tried to plot the best route to the Wutai island.  
  
  
About four hours into the flight, she decided to check on Cloud. She locked the controls, telling Nanaki as she did so that if anything went wrong, to get her up here as quickly as possible. She grabbed the de-fibrillator in case the worst did come to the worst, and headed for Cloud's cabin.  
  
She paused just outside the door, gathering up her courage, and knocked, softly.  
  
"Come in,"  
  
She obliged and stepped into the cabin. It was completely empty except for a bunk, a chair, a desk and a wardrobe. All the lights were out, except for the desk light, in which the silhouette of Cloud sat, gazing at a photo.  
  
She entered the room and stood behind him. "Someone you knew?" In a blink of an eye, he slammed the photo face down onto the table and turned to face her. Wrong thing to ask she cursed herself. "Um...maybe I should go...."  
  
She was at the doorway when Cloud called out. "No...Marlene, wait a minute. Come over here...please..." She did so and stood beside him. He picked up the photo and showed it to her. "Do you know who this is?"  
  
"Someone from Avalanche, I take it?"  
  
"Yes...her name was Tifa Lockheart..." He paused, and took a deep breath. "And I loved her..."  
  
"Look, maybe this is something that I shouldn't hear, and..."  
  
"No...no...I have to tell someone...and that someone might as well be you..." His eyes seemed to go blank, as if he was remembering the past. "We were childhood friends. We grew up in the same town together...and we ended up fighting to save the planet together..."  
  
"During that time, I fell in love with a woman called Aeris, who turned out to be one of the Ancients, perhaps the last of the Ancients. And then...she was murdered..."  
  
"After her death, there were two things that kept me going, the desire for revenge, and Tifa, who supported me. From that point on, we became more than just friends. We became lovers..."  
  
"After the Meteor incident, we planned to get married, however, we had to do some mopping up first, mainly the shutting down of the Corral Reactor."   
  
A tear came to his eye. "The mountain path was heavily guarded, so we were forced to climb the mountains directly to get there. It was just me and Tifa, with a job to do. We were on a very narrow ledge, when...they found us..."  
  
The entire mountainside was bombarded with rockets and machine guns. In the chaos, Tifa slipped and fell. I managed to grab hold of her, but the intensity of the bombardment increased. When I looked directly into her eyes, they were begging me not to let go, not to let her fall to her death. However...when a rocket exploded near me, I lost my grip..." The words seemed to catch in his throat. "I...killed...her..."  
  
She tried to put her hand on his shoulder to comfort him, but he wasn't finished. "I had nothing to keep me going. No-one to support me, no one to get revenge on but myself. And then..." He rounded on Marlene. "Then I heard that your father had disappeared, and that you were now and orphan. I didn't want to take you in but I did, as a favour to Barret. Do you know what it's like to have a screaming five year old girl in the house when you have loads of other things on your mind?! You made my life HELL!!!!"  
  
Marlene was shocked by all this. She knew she shouldn't have taken Cloud for granted, but she never knew that he had bottled up all this grief for ten years. She whispered, "It wasn't your fault that she died..."  
  
She put her arms around him, and Cloud, having released all the anger inside him, began to weep...  
  



	10. Chapter 10

They landed in a cloud of dust, while at the same time making a huge racket by having the engines on full power. This is what Marlene did best, making an entrance. She grinned at Cloud. "If this doesn't get his attention, nothing will." He grinned back at her. Ever since Cloud had released all of his pent up anger and grief at her in one go, he seemed different. Despite the fact that he was almost in constant pain, he seemed so full of life and adventure. This was a Cloud that she had never meet before, and she defiantly preferred him to the irritable version. Behind them, Nanaki's look seemed to question the point of making a huge, overblown entrance.  
  
The cottage itself was very traditional, made out of stone and had a thatched roof. Talk about being cliché, Marlene thought. It doesn't seem like the house of a former Turk...  
  
They faced the front door (which was made out of oak). Cloud drew his weapon, and sliced through the door with one blow. Marlene advanced first, kicking the splinters of wood out of her way. "Wouldn't it be easier to knock?" Nanaki asked.  
  
"We want to get his attention..." Cloud said, turning to Nanaki. "Besides, I wouldn't feel right knocking on a former Turk's door. It seems too polite..."  
  
In listening to the conversation between the two of them, Marlene let her concentration wonder for a split-second, and in that split second, she found herself staring at the business end of a nightstick. "Um, Cloud..."  
  
"You woke me up, you busted down my door, and now you insult me by saying that knocking would be 'too polite'!" Reno's face was one of barely contained rage. He flicked a button on his nightstick, and a bolt of electricity singed the air just a couple of centimetres in front of Marlene's nose.   
  
Despite being in his early 40s, Reno didn't seem any different from what Marlene had seen in a photo taken of him during the Meteor incident, except for a couple of strands of his hair that were starting to go grey. "What do you want?" he said, not taking his eyes off Marlene.  
  
"As much as I regret saying this," Cloud replied. "We need your help, as a guide..."  
  
"Do you really think I'd help you, after you broke down my door?!" He clenched his fist. "Did you know that I actually built this cottage myself?! Did you know that it took me about a month to do it?! And do you also know that it took me ages to get the oak for the front door?!" Marlene chuckled. "What's so darn funny, kid?" He drove one end of the nightstick into her stomach, thumbing the button as he did so before she could even react. Marlene went rigid as thousands of volts of electricity flowed through her, her mouth open in a silent scream. Reno removed his nightstick, and she went limp collapsing to the ground.  
  
"Bastard!" Cloud leapt forward, swinging his sword at Reno. It wasn't a killing blow, but Reno brought up his nightstick, blocking effortlessly. "If you have so much as bruised her..."  
  
"Getting protective Cloud?" He smiled. "If she's your woman, then perhaps you should pick someone a little bit...older. Tifa would defiantly not approve...ugh..." he said as Cloud rammed the hilt of his sword into his face. "And I thought you wanted my help..." he continued, nursing a bloody nose.  
  
"I was going to offer you a small fortune and my eternal gratitude," Cloud said, angrily. He was temporarily distracted by Marlene's coughing and spluttering, and he glanced over to see her get unsteadily to her feet. "But now," he said, turning his attention to Reno. "The deal just got worse for you. Now, if you help us, and I'll let you live."  
  
Reno seemed to consider this. "What do you want me to do?"  
  
"You knew you're way around Midgar, right?" He nodded. "Then you probably know about Hojo's laboratory in the ruins."  
  
"I know where it is, yes. So?" he asked, knowing full well what the answer would be."  
  
"I want you to take us there."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"That's none of your business..."  
  
"Let me take a wild guess. You and Nanaki here were both Hojo's experiments, and he screwed up somewhere, and so you are going to all this trouble to find out if there is any way to reverse it." He grinned. "It must be fatal if you want me to help you..."  
  
"Are you going to take us there?" Nanaki growled.  
  
"Personally, I would prefer to see both of you dead. The girl," he cast a sideways glance at Marlene. "I would just prefer to see her face smashed in!" Marlene clenched her fists. "Still, it looks like I have no choice. When do we leave?"  
  
"Immediately!"  
  
"Can I just pack a few things?"  
  
"No!"  
  



	11. Chapter 11

On the way to Midgar, both Cloud's and Nanaki's condition took a turn for the worst. Nanaki was starting to show signs that he was in serious pain, and now and again, he would lose all feeling in one of his paws and would crash to the ground. Cloud however, was much worse off...  
  
"Oh, God...he's collapsed!" Marlene knelt by Cloud, listening. Not breathing...She put to fingers to his throat. No pulse...oh no! "Nanaki!!"  
  
"Here!" He dropped the de-fibrillator just beside her. "Do you know how to work this thing?"  
  
"No!" She opened it and took out the two pads. "You?"  
  
"I wouldn't even be able to handle these?" He glanced across to Reno, who was leaning against the far wall. "Hey, give us a hand here!"  
  
Reno chuckled to himself. "You think that I would want to save him? This is like a dream come true. I get to see Cloud Strife die!"  
  
Nanaki growled. "We'll get no help from him!" Meanwhile, Marlene was desperately trying to alter the voltage. "Damn it!" She grabbed the pads and attached them to Cloud's chest. "Work damn you!!" She released the voltage, sending an electrical current straight into Cloud's body. He didn't even twitch.  
  
"What?!" She checked the voltage readout. That's way to low! She turned the dial, increasing the voltage as far as it would go. "OK, let's try again!" She attached the pads to Cloud's chest.  
  
"Marlene, if the voltage is too high, we could cause permanent damage..."  
  
"Clear!"  
  
Cloud's body arched up in the air as if a lighting bolt had struck it, and then lay still. For a second, Marlene was worried that she might have killed him...  
  
And he started breathing again. For a few moments, there was no sound to be heard except the hum of the engines and Cloud's breathing. Marlene was aware that she herself had stopped breathing and she took a deep breath inward.  
  
Behind her, Reno's face was one of disappointment. "Well..."he finally said. "I'd say that you did a pretty good re-enaction of a hospital drama." If looks could kill, Reno would have gone right through the Highwind's bulkhead.  
  
  
  
They entered Midgar early the next morning, Reno leading the way, holding a flashlight, Marlene bringing up the rear. The ruins had remained untouched in ten years. After the Meteor incident, a rescue effort was launched to pull survivors from the records. However, very few people who were pulled from the wreckage were still alive, and even fewer people actually survived more than a day after they were rescued.   
  
She looked at Cloud, who had gone very pale. Despite Marlene's insistence that he should remain on the Highwind, he had come along anyway. He isn't going to give up until he finds a cure, even if it's pointless that he accompanies us. She looked at Nanaki, who was keeping a close eye of Reno. It was then that a thought struck her. The ruins did look very similar wherever you where, but weren't they going around in circles?  
  
"Cloud?" she whispered. He turned in her direction. "How far would you trust Reno?"  
  
"As far as I could throw Meteor!" he whispered back. "I don't trust him, and he obviously wants me dead, but we have no other choice." He looked at Reno. "Someone like Elena probably wouldn't have as many grudges against me, but it was just the luck of the draw that you found him first."  
  
The journey lapsed back into silence. Eventually Reno shouted "We're here!"  
  
The laboratory had largely remained untouched by the destruction of Meteor, except that a few of the glass bottles had been smashed. At one corner of the room, there was a huge bookshelf, at another, several glass bottles filled with coloured substances. And at the other side..."  
  
"It's one of those cloning containers from Nibelheim..." Cloud whispered. Seeing the look on Marlene's face, he explained that himself, Sephiroth and Zack had come across the cylinders sixteen years ago in the Nibelheim mountains. Cloud had rumoured that Sephiroth might have been created in this way to be the perfect soldier.  
  
"I don't know much about it, but using one of these, it might be possible to alter a human's DNA structure with this device," he concluded. He studied the control panel embedded into the wall next to it. The main problem is that to cure this disease, we may have to make some alterations to mine and Nanaki's DNA code, and I don't know where to start..." Slowly, he turned his attention to the bookshelf.  
  
"Looks like we've got some reading to do..."  
  
  



	12. Chapter 12

And so they started looking in Hojo's notes and experiments in the period before and during the Meteor incident. The main problem was that the period they were researching covered almost every single book.  
  
This is hopeless! Marlene thought. There's quite a lot about Sephiroth in these books, but hardly any records of Hojo's cloning experiments. She looked up at Cloud and Nanaki. Of course, there would be very little on Cloud, as he was a failed experiment, and Nanaki was one of the latter ones. To some extent, he managed to counter the effects by infusing Cloud with Mako, which was why he was mistaken for being a member of SOLDIER. I can only assume that because of Nanaki's different anatomy, that also slowed the effects. She sighed. If Hojo had found a way to reverse the effects, he probably would have discovered it during the Meteor incident. IF he could reverse the effects...  
  
So, she began looking through the Hojo's rough notes, notes he had taken before his death and that he hadn't had time to write up into his books. Looking through them, she understood very little, as Hojo's rough notes were very messy and convoluted with all kinds of equations and theories, most of which had been crossed out. His books had been set out like some scientific journal, so I at least could read them. This, she scrunched up another piece of paper and tossed it over her shoulder, is in an alien language!  
  
She cast a glance over towards Reno, who was standing very close to the controls to the container. Perhaps a little too close. Grabbing a few sheets off the lab top, she took up a position where she could watch Reno, and make a move against him if he tried anything. And so, she kept one eye on Reno, and one eye on the sheets she was reading. Three sheets later, and she found something.  
  
"Cloud!" she yelled, walking over to them, Reno temporarily forgotten. "I've found something!"  
  
Meanwhile, Reno looked around, and made sure that their attention was focused elsewhere. Slowly drawing his nightstick, he sidestepped up to the controls. He rose it high up into the air, and brought it down onto the control panel.   
  
At least, that was his intention, for he was stopped in mid-swing by Marlene's hand clamped firmly around his wrist. For a moment, they stared at each other, and he again to smash the panel, but Marlene twisted his wrist, and with a cry, he dropped his nightstick.  
  
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Cloud inquired, his hand resting on his sword, ready to draw it.  
  
"Trying to destroy you're only hope on recovery!" Reno snapped. "Did you really think that I would help you to recover.  
  
"No...but we had to get a guide otherwise we would never have been able to find this place."  
  
"So Cloud, what are you going to do? Kill me?" He smiled. "Without you're guide, you won't be able to get back!"  
  
"Not necessarily," Marlene chipped in. She held up her computer. "This tiny gizmo has been constantly scanning the trail we've walked, and with the information it's gathered, we should be able to find our way back no problem." As she said this, the colour slowly drained from Reno's face.  
  
"You're lucky that Cloud wouldn't kill anyone unarmed unless he really had to." Nanaki said. "I, however..." He bared his teeth. "Would not hesitate to kill you in cold blood!"  
  
"So," Cloud continued. "You now have a choice. You can either stay away from that machine while we operate it, or..." he tugged at his sword. "I can smash your face in and leave you here until you regain consciousness."  
  
Reno seemed to consider this for a few seconds. "I take option no. 2." He shrugged away Marlene. "Let's settle this, one-on-one, man to man..." He leapt at Cloud, his fists flying at Cloud.  
  
"Cloud!" Marlene yelled.  
  
"Stay out of this!" he snapped back. Reno swung his right fist at Cloud, which Cloud countered with his right arm, but Reno was already swinging his left fist, which Cloud didn't see coming. The punch hit him full in the face, sending him off balance. Reno followed up with a kick into Cloud's gut and rammed his fist towards Cloud's stomach. Cloud made no attempt to dodge, instead performing a roundhouse kick which hit Reno on the side of the head.  
  
This obviously got Reno rattled, and the fight moved in close, with Reno letting loose a flurry of punches which Cloud blocked, following up with a flurry of punches of his own. Then, before Cloud had finished, he grabbed Reno's left arm and twisted it at an awkward angle. Reno responded by delivering a flurry of blows from his right fist into Cloud's gut, forcing Cloud to let go.  
  
This is going to be a tough fight for the both of them Marlene thought. The only reason they are so evenly matched is because Cloud is not fighting at his full capacity. I only managed to beat him because he was sick! She continued to watch as Cloud tried to trip Reno with a sweeper kick, which Reno leapt over and flew through the air towards Cloud feet first. They collided, the force of the collision driving them both backwards up against the wall. Reno took advantage of this and let loose a flurry of punches into Cloud's stomach, all of them connecting. Finally, he let loose his right elbow at Cloud's neck.  
  
In desperation, Cloud dropped down, Reno's elbow impacting against the wall where his head had been a second later. Using a sweeper to knock Reno's legs out from over him, they both went crashing to the ground, Cloud on top of Reno, his hands around his throat.   
  
"This is the end Reno!" Cloud yelled. Removing one hand from his throat, Cloud drew his it back, formed it into a fist, and brought his fist down hard onto Reno's face. Reno's head banged against the metal floor as Cloud punched again and again and again. Blood started spurting out of Reno's face, splashing Cloud.  
  
"Cloud! That's enough!" He stopped has he felt Marlene restraining his fist. "That's enough. You knocked him into next Tuesday and he probably won't be able to talk by Wednesday!" Nodding grimly, he stood up, studied Reno's body (which was still breathing), and turned to Marlene. "What is it that you found?" he asked.  
  
She produced the sheet. "According to this, formula 231 should be able to reverse the effects of DNA breakdown, by mixing itself with your own DNA strands and replacing the strands that are already broken. In essence, you will end up having a different DNA structure."  
  
She expected him to show some sign of relief, but instead, he only nodded. "What is this formula 231 anyway?"  
  
She studied the sheet for a few seconds. "Apparently, it's released in gas form into the capsule, because a concentrated amount could cause massive brain damage. It's already in the delivery system of the capsule, so all someone has to do is key in the formula number and execute the treatment. The substance is something called..." she frowned at the paper. "Lifestream. What the hell is that?"  
  
"Lifestream makes up this entire planet," Cloud said. "When you die, you rejoin the planet as part of the Lifestream. In effect, it's the souls of everyone who's ever died." He took the sheet from her and studied it. "And I can see why it would be released in gas form..." A particular detail caught his eye. "It's just a theory. It hasn't even been tested yet!"  
  
"What choice do we have?" said Nanaki.  
  
Cloud hobbled over to the control panel, and keyed in a few commands. As he did so, he frowned, hard, and keyed in some more commands. "Well?" Nanaki asked.  
  
"The good news is that there's some Lifestream left to use." Cloud said, The bad news..." He took a deep breath. "There's only enough for one person to use it."  
  
The room became deathly quiet as both Marlene and Nanaki absorbed the information. One of them will die, no matter what! She looked at Nanaki, who was looking straight at Cloud. He's going to give up his own life to save Cloud?  
  
"No!" Cloud said, realising the look Nanaki was giving him. "I am not going in there. If anyone in this room deserves to live it should be you?"  
  
"Cloud..." Nanaki said, desperately searching for a reason to get Cloud into the capsule. "Myself and the rest of Avalanche owe a debt to you, and I'm going to repay it!"  
  
"Don't be stupid!" Cloud snapped back. "You're possibly the last of your species, and I'm not going to be the one responsible for wiping out an entire...ugh..." His entire body went limp, and he crashed to the ground.   
  
Marlene was first to his side. "He's still got a pulse..." She looked towards the capsule, and then looked at Nanaki. "Nanaki..."  
  
"We'd better get him in there." Marlene helped Cloud to his feet, supporting one shoulder. Nanaki, standing up on his hind legs, supporting the other. When they reached the hatch, Marlene reached over, and pressed the button which would open the hatch. It slid open to one side with a loud hiss.  
  
And it was then Cloud took the chance. Summing up all of his remaining strength, he threw one of his arms backwards, sending Marlene tumbling across the room. With the other, he grabbed Nanaki by the scruff of the neck, throwing him into the capsule and slamming the hatch shut.  
  
"Cloud, NO!" He dimly heard Nanaki's shout as he made his way unsteadily to the controls.  
  
"Cloud, don't!" Marlene screamed. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. She pushed herself to her feet and ran towards Cloud, to stop him from releasing the gas. Time seemed to slow down as Cloud's finger moved towards the activation button. Nanaki banged on the porthole, shouting out in desperation.  
  
He pressed the button. Almost immediately, a greenish gas was released into the chamber. Nanaki desperately tried to break the porthole with his paws, but soon, he was hidden in the murky substance. Cloud, his finger still pressed against the button, stood there for a second, before collapsing into Marlene's arms.   
  
Marlene desperately tried to say something, but the words seemed to catch in her throat. Looking at Cloud, she summed up all her courage. "Don't die..." she choked. What else could she say. And despite the pain, Cloud seemed to smile up at her...  
  
The End  
  
  
  
Thanks to everyone who read it all the way through, and an extra special thanks to everyone who reviewed it. Bearing in mind this is my first fic, I would like all comments to be honest.  
  
A sequel is on the way, as well as a re-write of this fic.  



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